Sorbet MAN is the rugged, well-groomed male face of the beloved Sorbet brand in South Africa. With their uber-cool offering of barbers who take care of beards, cuts, shaves, colour and styling, and grooming therapy for massages, waxes, facials, manly manis and pedis, plus products, they were on the hunt for something different to the traditional OOH and magazine ad strategy.
In a classic case of the hunter becoming the hunted, our very own Elan “hounded” Sapna Naran, the then Group Marketing Manager of Sorbet MAN, until there was a meeting of the minds.
We spoke with Sapna recently to hear the full story.
The Challenge: Low Brand-Awareness
“At the time, as Head of Marketing for the Group, my goal for Sorbet MAN was to drive brand awareness, recruit new customers and increase frequency with current customers,” says Sapna. “The problem we were facing was that Sorbet MAN’s brand awareness levels were very low. People knew about Sorbet but not really Sorbet MAN, and if people did hear about Sorbet MAN, they didn’t really know what to expect or what was on offer. We needed a way to educate and inform our target market.”
Enter Elan. “I contacted Sapna as I believed we could add real value to her marketing objectives. Thankfully I came at the right time, as she was tired of the old, conventional hard-to-track OOH advertising options, and there was marketing budget available. Our bikes were the perfect solution.”
Hyper-localised Marketing
The underpinning value of MotionAds is to drive high brand awareness in key locations. This was an ideal fit for Sorbet MAN.
Sapna opted for a dual approach with branded delivery bikes plus flyer distribution. “The bikes could operate in the same area as our stores,” says Sapna, “further reinforcing brand awareness to the neighbourhood we were trying to reach.”
Says Elan, “We wrapped 10 bikes in beautiful, high quality designs that really spread the word with every kilometer driven, and every delivery made.”
Affordable Quality
“While we had a budget available for Sorbet MAN, what I really liked about MotionAds is how affordable this outdoor channel is,” says Sapna. “Aside from being an affordable, novel approach that would draw more attention than a standard billboard, the attractive price tag had no impact on the quality of branding or service we received.”
As with all MotionAds campaigns, the drivers have the opportunity to earn an extra income. Not only does this support our passion for driver upliftment, it also ensures they are as passionate about service excellence as we are. We also hold regular inspections that are incentivised, to ensure the branding always looks good on the road.
Targeted Efficacy
Says Sapna, “The real punch in our approach with MotionAds was that there was no ‘spray and pray’ approach. Due to many drivers delivering takeaway food through South Africa’s popular online food delivery platform, we could directly target the audience we wanted to acquire.”
The 10 bikes with Sorbet MAN branding covered 56 000 kilometers in the Sandton area of Johannesburg, reaching 12 000 homes with 12 000 flyers delivered with the branded messaging.
“If I could do it again, I would have included samples through the campaign too,” says Sapna. “But for the sole purpose of brand awareness it was a success: we gained great brand awareness levels with many people spotting the bright bikes around JHB North specifically.”
Final thoughts
When asked what working with MotionAds was like, Sapna only has praise. “They have been incredible with managing timelines and my expectations. The branding was excellent and quality came through. It was also Elan’s approach: he was just so lovely to work with and so humble. The type of person I would like to do business with and great at maintaining a relationship and great communication.”
Says Elan, “We really loved working with the talented people at Sorbet MAN. Because we share similar values, we enjoyed a real synergy in brand and culture. We were extremely proud of how the bikes looked on the road, and we made sure they stayed on brand as far as quality and style goes with regular inspections.”
“I would 100% recommend MotionAds,” concludes Sapna, “I had a great experience working with the team who delivered every ounce of the way!”
